As soon as we leave the highway 3 miles out of Missoula we notice that the hilltops we couldn't see yesterday are covered in snow!! I don't know how high we are, but it's not a lot. The Rockies are a bit northeast from here. Missoula, I read, for some reason I don't remember typically enjoys milder temperatures than any other part of Montana. We were told they were expecting snow in Yellowstone the day after we left (this is partly why we left so soon - our RV pipes could freeze), but I did not expect this weather would chase us down. We are heading to Glacier N.P., not sure if we can make it before the night temperatures drop below 30°F.
We find a campground with no Wi-Fi, but luckily it borders an inn with a pretty good coverage so we are able to tap in and get high-speed connection. Whitefish is as jazzy as Montana gets - it sits at the bottom of Big Mountain Ski Resort and just 25 miles from the west entrance to Glacier. The mountain tops that we are able to see emerging from the clouds are dusted with snow. We need to find out what's going on with the weather, otherwise we are doomed! By going online we realize that we are about 22 degrees below average in this region for this time of the year, and that there is a severe weather warning out for Glacier over the next 4-5 days. They have predicted snow above 5000 ft and the minimum at night will be around 11oF. We are doomed. There is no way we can go with the RV. After much deliberating, we came up with a compromising backup plan and we decided to rent a car for the day tomorrow and just drive through the park with it, leaving the RV parked at the campground for the day. We won't be able to do much in a day, but it's better than skipping it altogether. Plus, Petr has bought Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray at this point, we must find a way to use it! The rental agency will give us a 4WD Subaru Outback to climb Logan Pass (6700 ft) in case it's not plowed.
Going to bed early tonight.
Driving along Flathead Lake.
It doesn't look good for biking!
Threatening clouds.
Checking out Big Mountain ski resort, so that we know what to expect when we come back with skis this winter!
A view of the ski slopes...
And of the Whitefish river from above.
Going back down.
A deer feeding on the edge of the road. They are so common-place by now, we almost don't bother anymore.